A lot has happened this week and the building shape is now fully visible. The crew from SQUIRES AND WEST , our foundation experts, began by pouring a continuous pad around the exterior. Then our surveyor came and accurately positioned all the lines of the walls on the pad. The insulated concrete forms are then erected on top of the pad.
Before the walls went in, our contractor INFINITY FINE HOMES added the perforated weeping tile piping and covered them with gravel; with double pipe capacity at the future window wells just to be sure!
The walls made of two layers of foam with special plastic separators; have reinforcing steel in the centre so when they are poured full of concrete, they act like a large beam that links all the steel piles in the ground and carries the weight of the floors and walls above.
The ICF walls also have several other advantages , they are quieter, thinner than regular concrete walls plus studs and they are much warmer as there is insulation on the outside of the wall keeping the concrete warm. Also they are completely ready to finish with no extra walls to build.
On Friday our structural Engineer inspected all the reinforcing and confirmed it is ready for concrete!